DEFENCE
Shorts awarded trainer contract
LONDON
Shorts' proposal for a Garrett -
engined variant of Tueano has
been selected as the Royal Air
Force's Jet Provost trainer
replacement.
The contract award was
announced in Parliament by
Secretary of State for Defence
Michael Heseltine on March
21, ending a competition
which lasted some two years
but starting a political furore.
Heseltine outlined the lead-up
to selection from the four
contenders (AAC/Westland
A.20 Wamira II, BAe/Pilatus
PC-9, Hunting Firecracker,
and Shorts/Embraer Tucano)
and then went on to give his
reasons for selecting the
Tucano, powered by a 1,100
s.h.p. Garrett TPE-331-12.
"All four tenders have been
fully evaluated," he stated,
"The price quoted by West-
land and Hunting, although
substantially reduced com
pared with their original
offers, remains well in excess
of the other two bids, thus
confirming our earlier asser
tion that on cost, as well as on
technical grounds, the choice
effectively lay between the
PC-9 and the Tucano.
Procurement of either aircraft
would provide much better
value for money than the
alternative option of refur
bishing the Jet Provost fleet.
"The choice between these
two fine aircraft has proved to
be evenly balanced. Both
comfortably meet the mini
mum specification, and either
is capable of meeting the
RAF's training needs very
satisfactorily.
"Selection of either would
boost jobs for British indus
try, both directly through
orders for the RAF and indi
rectly through the export
sales which the successful
firm could be expected to win.
Cost decisive
"In the end cost has been
the decisive factor. Our policy
is to reduce the cost of defence
equipment through the maxi
mum use of competition, thus
providing better value for
money for the taxpayer and
stronger defences for the
country within the resources
available.
"Of the two best and final
Tucano in
iiii _j
S«
BiPil
L.' • : I Mil ^_
offers, Shorts is the cheaper
by a fair margin. Subject to
final completion of contractual
negotiations, therefore, we
shall be placing an order with
Shorts for 130 Tucanos.
"The contract will be on a
firm-price basis. That is to say
the price is fixed in cash
terms, and any cost escalation
or foreign exchange risks will
be borne by Shorts. Allowing
for potential overseas sales,
our decision should result in
over 1,100 job opportunities in
the UK, with over half of
them in N. Ireland.
"In addition, the American
firm Garrett, who shall be
supplying the engine in the
Tucano, has given an offset
undertaking which will bring
further work into British
industry.
"Shorts' partnership with
Embraer in this venture
should open up many
commercial opportunities.
"I should tell the House
that the decision I have just
announced is an important
one in the context of our
enhanced competition policy.
The price of the contract is
approximately £60 million
—or 35 per cent—less than
that which my Department
had originally envisaged in its
forward costing process. This
is a good decision for the RAF,
for British indusry, for jobs,
and for the taxpayer."
Heseltine concluded.
It should be emphasised
that the figure quoted, £60
million, is the 35 per cent
saving, not the contract price,
which is £125 million.
The announcement caused
"public jubilation" in Belfast,
where new jobs will be created
in an area of high
unemployment. Some of these
could be in the now empty De
Lorean car plant. Shorts will
open this subsidiary factory in
West Belfast this summer,
employing some 200 people
initially. But final assembly of
Tucano will be at the existing
Queen's Island and Sydenham
factories.
For the RAF contract pro
duction will peak at 30
aircraft a year spread over five
years. The first aircraft are
scheduled for delivery in late
1986. The contract is for 130
aircraft plus an option for 15
more, plus two fuselage
sections to use as simulator/
procedures trainers.
Shorts delighted
Shorts is delighted, "It's
great to be David beating
Goliath" said a jubilant Sir
Philip Foreman, Shorts'
chairman. "The result, in the
face of intense competition, is
a tremendous vote of
confidence in the aircraft, in
Shorts, and in Northern
Ireland. We have been
successful because we have
been able to satisfy the
Ministry of Defence and the
Government that the Shorts
Tucano offered the best all
round solution in terms of
running costs and economic
benefits to the country as a
whole".
Sir Philip dismissed as "a
load of old rubbish" claims by
some Members of Parliament
that the contract had gone to
Shorts to improve the
company's market attrac
tiveness before its intended
privatisation next year.
Critics
Chief among the critics is
Kevin McNamara MP, the
Member for Hull, whose
constituents include many
workers at BAe Brough,
where the PC-9 would have
been assembled. McNamara
is also a defence spokesman
for the opposing Labour
Party: "I think it's disastrous.
It's an aircraft that has not
flown and that the RAF does
not want. It was selected to
make Shorts attractive for
privatisation and settle the
odd 'debt' with Brazil "(in
return for emergency landing
rights during the Falklands
War).
As for exports of Shorts
Tucano, McNamara is blunt.
He points out that the Tucano
is built in Brazil and under
licence in Egypt. Third World
8 FLIGHT International, 30 March 1985